Chapter 21: HE FOUND NO PEACE…
The Doom Slayer had been sprinting for a few minutes now, having already lost the UAC drones that were assisting in mapping the terrain.
"They are likely going to be worried if they do not see you on the map, Doom Slayer." VEGA beeped. He was ignored, something VEGA had gotten used to after spending enough time with the Slayer.
The landscape was unsettlingly all the same: Stygian-black marble, or something similar to it. The Doom Slayer was able to slide across the landscape with relative ease, bounding and leaping and sprinting much quicker than he usually would.
"I do hope the landscape is not all like this. That would be...disappointing, to say the least." VEGA beeped once more. "And I do hope that one day you will speak, so that we could enjoy a pleasant conversation between one another."
Once again, ignored. VEGA made a sound that was similar to a frustrated sigh.
"Do what you will, I suppose." He beeped.
After another dozen minutes or so, VEGA ran another scan of the environment.
"Hold on, I'm picking up differing terrain a bit far off." He beeped. "It's...I...cannot explain it. The bio-scanners are having a hard time deciphering what precisely they are reading. What are we going to encounter?"
After another minute or two, they finally came to encounter it. The Doom Slayer stopped in his tracks.
There was a sudden cut-off from the black marble ground to the new landscape, which was something that could hardly be described with words.
Beyond the black marble, the landscape was like a chaotic mix of every single environment fathomable from Earth. Tundras and valleys interconnected in the most odd ways, Mountains were suddenly cut off by plains and savannas surrounding them, Deserts mingled with lush green fields brimming with flowers. The entirety of the sight could only be described as logic-defyingly ridiculous.
"What...exactly am I looking at here?" VEGA beeped.
The Doom Slayer ignored the sight, stepping over the boundary between the stygian-black marbled ground onto the grass.
"Wait, Doom Slayer, you shouldn't-!"
Nothing happened, and the Slayer began walking cautiously through the landscape.
"My bio scanners are no longer functioning properly." VEGA beeped. "I haven't a clue where we are, what the climate is like, how the weather patterns vary...be careful, Doom Slayer."
They continued on like this for another dozen or so minutes, looking around at the odd environment they were in. The Slayer had to do a lot of parkour and make sudden movements as certain ground collapsed into unseen ravines and underground caverns.
"What a fascinating environment." VEGA beeped. "I am sure that Mr. Hayden will also be enthralled by this unique landscape- Doom Slayer, you shouldn't run."
The Slayer was not listening. He had sighted something far off, something that looked egregiously familiar…
The closer he got, the more his senses of familiarity tingled. The more his rage began to bubble up.
When he was only a few meters away, he stopped, staring at the artifact.
The helmet of a Night Sentinel.
He walked up slowly to the object, kneeling and picking it up, looking it over.
"What is this helmet?" VEGA beeped. "...Is that the helmet of a Night Sentinel?!"
The Slayer could hear the shock coming from VEGA's voice. He continued looking over the helmet, trying to find distinct markings on it. The more he looked it over, the more he started to realize whose helmet this belonged to.
He realized who it belonged to.
"Doom Slayer, do you recognize this helmet?" VEGA beeped. "It seems you-..."
Crack!
VEGA suddenly went silent as the Doom Slayer's grip tightened around the helmet, his fingers breaking into the visor and deforming the shape of it.
|| THE BETRAYER. ||
He felt rage coursing through his veins as he endured a flashback that revitalized all of the pain, the suffering, the RAGE he collected over time. A caustic, boiling ferocity turned his knuckles white as he continued crushing the helmet.
|| I WILL FIND HIM. ||
CRACK-SMASH!
The Doom Slayer launched the helmet into the ground, which tore through the dirt and sent cracks webbing across the area.
|| AND I WILL BREAK HIM. ||
With that, the Doom Slayer launched himself forward, sprinting, climbing and hopping, breaking off pieces of the landscape on his path to destruction.